Now that Twitter’s new music platform, #Music, has been available for public use for almost two months it is safe to make the following assessment.
It is one resounding dud.
When the platform was first released, we shared a guest post from our friend in the UK Mark Muggeridge who was quite keen on the potential of the platform and it’s benefits for the emerging market.
However, we here at Cyber PR feel that after seeing it in action, Twitter #music falls short in two major areas.
The first is that it’s charts fail to offer anything unique by way of popular music or emerging music. Artists show up on these charts by being the most talked about on Twitter…
In essence, Twitter is shining the spotlight on the cool kids table.
The second is that even though the platform has an ‘emerging’ tab, it still does absolutely nothing to better the marketing opportunities for the majority of independent musicians. This chart is an automated platform that doesn’t actually function as a tool for musicians to utilize. It just exists.
But even though Twitter #Music isn’t what we all had hoped, we want to reinforce something that we’ve been talking about for years.
Twitter is still CRITICAL to your marketing.
The following are 4 areas that Twitter excels in, arguably better than any other platform:
1. Plugs You Into Global Conversations Surrounding Your Niche
Twitter as a platform allows you to not only follow people, but topics and trends as well. The latter is made incredibly easy to do through the use of hashtags (#).
By identifying keywords that are relevant to your niche (i.e #Vegan, #Yoga, #MusicEducation, etc.) you can track global conversations surrounding topics that are important to your niche so that you can join the conversation at large. This will not only help to build a more distinguished voice for your digital-self, but it will allow you to start building conversations with others who feel just as passionate and empowered by your niche.
This is a critical opportunity to build unique relationships with others in your niche who have established themselves as thought-leaders and gate keepers.
2. Establish Thought-Leadership Through Content Curation
Speaking of thought-leaders, Twitter creates an amazing opportunity that no other platform can compare with. By curating content relevant to your niche through various forms of media (audio, video, photos, articles, etc.) that can be tweeted about on a weekly, daily and even hourly basis, you are showcasing the fact that you not only have your finger on the pulse of your niche, but that you have a unique approach and perspective as well.
By curating content that sparks opportunities to create new conversations with existing thought-leaders, you are putting yourself on their level in their eyes, and in the eyes of their followers.
Of course, don’t forget to use the proper hashtag when tweeting the curated content surrounding your niche so that others who are following along and joining conversations are sure to see it.
3. Target Potential Super Fans
We all know how difficult Facebook can be to actually find new people. Facebook’s Open Graph search that is slowly but surely being rolled out to their entire user-base will be a helpful push in the right direction, but frankly it, nor any other platform, can compare to the possibilities that Twitter gives you to target potential super fans.
This process starts with understanding two things:
1. Who is your ideal fan? Where do they live? What passions do they have? What musicians do they like? What do they find inspiring?
2. Where do YOU live? What passions do YOU have? What musicians do YOU like? What inspires YOU?
If you can answer the questions above, you should be able to very easily find not only others involved in your niche, but their most dedicated followers as well (the latter are your potential super fans).
By utilizing http://search.Twitter.com, you can search for relevant and dedicated supports to connect with by way of location, hashtag, keywords, and more. Use this to seek out those who you feel can empower you and your tribe, then follow and engage with them.
4. Support Yourself by Supporting Others
Twitter has become known as a platform for shining a spotlight on others through the widespread use of #FF (#followfriday) and #MM (#musicmonday). Both hashtags are used to shine the spotlight on OTHER people, instead of promoting yourself.
But why limit your promotion of others to just these two hashtags?
By making the promotion of other people, be it thought-leaders, gate keepers, fans or even other peers within your niche or genre, a regular and part of your overall Twitter strategy, you are consistently creating opportunities where people will share your own content out with their followers just to reciprocate the support. This can open MAJOR doors for you to be routinely connected with new followers.
And of course, nothing helps to build your brand better than having other talking about you (instead of you talking about yourself). Twitter’s potential for this opportunity is unmatched, let alone unsurpassed, by any other platform.
How Have YOU Used Twitter To Market Your Music?
The failure of Twitter #Music is not the end of the platform as we know it for music marketing. In fact, quite the contrary. Let us know how YOU have been continuing to utilize Twitter to market yourself and your music in the form of a comment below!